Housing a Challenge for Newcomers

London is the second-toughest city for a newcomer to Canada to find housing.

Only immigrants in Toronto have it worse, according to a new report from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation that studied 33 locales.

The data, from 2011, show that overall, immigrant core housing need was three times the rate for that of non-immigrants, at 29.6%. Toronto had the highest rate of any city with 36.4 % of newcomers in need. London wasn’t far behind, at 33.7%. CMHC says affordability is the main issue. It notes that newcomers, and Canadians with core housing need, spend half of their incomes on shelter.

The CMHC research shows that the longer a newcomer is in the city, the easier the housing situation becomes.